Compare and Contrast Destiny and Personal Legends Personal legends are important, play a big role in The Alchemist, and still exist today. Looking at the characters, you can see that they are different, but the same.
Personal legends are different from destiny in that they can simply be ignored if a person should chose to do so. In The Alchemist, Melchizedek makes it very clear that he is against destiny/fate, calling it “the world’s greatest lie” (Coelho, 18). His definition of Personal Legend is this, “It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At one point in their lives, everything is clear and possible” (Coelho, 21). All over the internet, I have looked, trying to find a set source that will tell me what Santiago’s Personal Legend was, and it seems that there is no set answer. When he was a young boy, he always wanted to travel, so that could be his personal legend, but then he finds out about the treasure, and everything just automatically points to his personal legend being treasure. He did not want treasure; actually, he did not even know about …show more content…
His dream, or personal legend, was to visit Mecca, but at the same time, it was not his destiny. That situation was different, because he needed his dream of Mecca to encourage him to persevere. If Coelho had written further about what happened to him, I could assert with ninety-five percent certainty that he wouldn’t have gone. Does anyone know about that comparison where there is a horse or an animal, and there is food on the end of a stick in front of them, leading them onward, directing them; telling them where to go? The crystal merchant did not intend on going to Mecca because “It’s the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive. That’s what helps me face these days that are all the same… I’m afraid that if my dream is realized, I’ll have no reason to go on living.” (Coelho,
Personal legends are different from destiny in that they can simply be ignored if a person should chose to do so. In The Alchemist, Melchizedek makes it very clear that he is against destiny/fate, calling it “the world’s greatest lie” (Coelho, 18). His definition of Personal Legend is this, “It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At one point in their lives, everything is clear and possible” (Coelho, 21). All over the internet, I have looked, trying to find a set source that will tell me what Santiago’s Personal Legend was, and it seems that there is no set answer. When he was a young boy, he always wanted to travel, so that could be his personal legend, but then he finds out about the treasure, and everything just automatically points to his personal legend being treasure. He did not want treasure; actually, he did not even know about …show more content…
His dream, or personal legend, was to visit Mecca, but at the same time, it was not his destiny. That situation was different, because he needed his dream of Mecca to encourage him to persevere. If Coelho had written further about what happened to him, I could assert with ninety-five percent certainty that he wouldn’t have gone. Does anyone know about that comparison where there is a horse or an animal, and there is food on the end of a stick in front of them, leading them onward, directing them; telling them where to go? The crystal merchant did not intend on going to Mecca because “It’s the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive. That’s what helps me face these days that are all the same… I’m afraid that if my dream is realized, I’ll have no reason to go on living.” (Coelho,